


Freezing and Spooked

by OctolingO



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:55:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25611658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OctolingO/pseuds/OctolingO
Summary: Mercedes is way too good at telling ghost stories(Slight warning for the ghost story itself, it’s pretty mild but there is a mention of broken bones)
Kudos: 7





	Freezing and Spooked

Ashe shivered for what felt like the millionth time in the past hour. He wished he could harbor ill will towards Felix for ripping his uniform: the two had sparred, Ashe being shocked that Felix had even agreed to it, and Felix’s training sword had torn a jagged hole in Ashe’s uniform. It was currently being fixed, so he was wearing a generic one without the extra layering and hood that his normal one provided. 

Needless to say, it was much colder than his actual one. 

“Hey, Ashe!” Ashe looked up to see Annette jogging towards him. 

“Hi, Annette.” He said. 

“We’re going to have a campfire, do you want to come?” Annette asked. Ashe blinked, caught off guard. ‘Blue Lions campfire’ had not been anywhere near the top of the list of things he’d thought Annette was going to say. 

“Uh, sure!” He said with a smile. “I’d love to come!” As he finished speaking, he shivered. Annette cocked her head. 

“Are you sick?” She accused.

“N-no, just cold.” He said. 

“Don’t lie, you know I’ll see through it.”

“I’m not lying! I’m really just cold, honestly!” Ashe felt his face reddening. 

“Fine, I believe you.” Annette said, sounding very much like she didn’t. “Follow me! Mercie is out finding Ingrid and Felix, everyone else is already there.” Annette grabbed Ashe’s hand and tugged him along to a nice clearing in front of the Blue Lions commons. Dedue had set up a fire pit, ringed by rocks, and had most likely been the one to put the large logs around it that were serving as seats. Dimitri and Sylvain had chosen to sit on different logs, with Dedue looming behind Dimitri. Ashe sat on a third log, and Annette sat next to him. In the heat of the fire, Ashe was relieved to feel that some of his chills disappeared. Not all of them, as the night was cold, but some of them did. A few minutes later, Mercedes, Ingrid, and Felix joined them, Ingrid dragging Felix along by the forearm. The dark haired boy did not look like he wanted to be spending his evening at a campfire. Mercedes sat on Annette’s other side, with Ingrid and Felix choosing to sit on the fourth log bench: which left Dimitri and Sylvain on their own. 

“Ouch, guys.” Sylvain said. “Leaving me all alone?”

“Well, you’re not exactly great company.” Felix muttered. Ingrid flicked his ear. 

“Be nice.” She scolded. “This is supposed to be something fun, not negative.” Annette nodded her agreement. 

As the Blue Lions talked about nothing of great importance (mostly how their tests were going, or how many new fighting techniques they’d learned), the fire began to burn itself out, until it was reduced to a smoldering pile of embers. By this time, the light of the moon eliminated the need for a fire’s light, so no one made a move to reignite the flames. 

“—I’m just saying, I like the hair color!” Sylvain was in the process of defending himself. “Green hair looks great with her skin tone!”   
“She’s Seteth’s sister, for crying out loud!” Annette exclaimed. “You honestly think that Seteth would let someone of your reputation even ten feet near any girl, let alone his sister?” Sylvain sighed and put his hands behind his head. 

“No, I don’t. And I wasn’t saying I’d like to.”

“Oh, give it a rest.” Felix said. “We all know you’d go out with any random girl you saw on the streets. Someone ‘unattainable’ is just a greater challenge for you.” 

“Felix,” Mercedes began in her calm voice, “I don’t know that this is the best discussion to be having right now.”   
“Agreed.” Dimitri cleared his throat. “Ashe, have you read anything interesting lately?”

“M-me?” Ashe stammered, sitting up straight—he’d been leaning his head against Mercedes’ shoulder and had been about half asleep when Dimitri addressed him. 

“Sure.” Dimitri said with a shrug. “Your books are interesting reads.”

“If you call stereotypical and stupid interesting.” Felix said under his breath. Ingrid didn’t even try to reprimand him, she just rolled her eyes. 

“Um, no, Your Hig—Dimitri, I haven’t read anything that you would find interesting.” Ashe replied. He shivered again, wrapping his arms around himself. Dimitri furrowed his brows. 

“You seem cold.” He said. Ashe shrugged.

“I am a little.” He admitted. “But it’s nothing, really.” In direct contradiction to what he’d just said, more shivers wracked his body. Dimitri patted the space next to him. 

“If you want, you can sit next to me.” He offered. Ashe coughed, green eyes wide. 

“No, I couldn’t.” The archer said. “I’m okay, really.” 

“Ashe, if you’re cold you should.” Mercedes pressed. 

“He’s a prince!” Ashe defended. “I can’t just do that—”

“You can too!” Annette told him. “You know he doesn’t care.” Ashe sighed, a cold breeze blowing its way through his hair. 

“Alright, Dimitri.” He conceded. Not calling the prince by his title still felt strange. “But if you change your mind, I can move.” 

“I assure you, Ashe, you won’t have to.” Dimitri said. Ashe stood up, holding his arms rigidly at his side. He could tell his face was the color of Sylvain’s hair. Speaking of Sylvain, the redhead was watching Ashe with an annoyingly amused look on his face. Ashe sat next to Dimitri, and the prince moved over so his side was touching Ashe’s. Ashe was about to protest when he realized how nice the warmth was, and it took all of his willpower not to lean into Dimitri. 

“You’re such a softie, Your Princeliness.” Sylvain commented. 

“I am merely looking out for the members of my house.” Dimitri said humbly. Ashe focused himself on examining a scuff on his boots. 

“So now that that is taken care of,” Mercedes said, “I think I have a ghost story I’d like to tell!”

“Go right ahead!” Ingrid said. “You’re a great storyteller.” As Mercedes began her story, Ashe swallowed nervously. 

“And as our brave hero rounded a corner, he saw it!” Mercedes exclaimed. “The pale and lanky form of a ghost, its face a featureless mask. The hero drew his blade and swung, but the steel passed right through the ghost. A cackling echoed through the woods, and a voice said ‘Poor hero! Your pathetic sword cannot harm me!’ And the ghost’s snake-like arms wrapped around the hero, squeezing and squeezing until  _ snap— _ ” Mercedes clapped her hands together, making the Blue Lions jump, “the hero’s ribs shattered! The ghost sneered and turned, its mysterious white cape swishing, but the hero was not yet finished. They drew a smaller, more precise knife, leaping forward and plunging it into the back of the ghost. ‘There.’ The hero snarled. ‘You cannot harm anyone, ever again.’ And just like that, both ghost and hero were dead.”

“Wow, Mercedes.” Sylvain exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. “That was a very interesting story.”

“It was dumb. Ghosts aren’t real.” Mercedes wilted slightly. 

“W-Well even if they aren’t r-real, Mercie has fun t-telling the stories!” Annette defended her best friend, stammering from fright. 

“You are certainly good at it.” Dimitri said approvingly. “And Ashe, you may let go of me now.”

“W-What?” Ashe said, face pale and teeth chattering. He was absolutely, positively terrified. He suddenly realized he’d been hugging Dimitri’s waist as the story progressed. “Oh Seiros, Your Highness I’m so sorry—”

“Do not apologize. It is quite alright if you were afraid. I will admit, even I was a bit spooked.” Dimitri said. 

“Even s-so, it was inappropriate of me.” Ashe stammered. He moved a few inches away from Dimitri, face burning with embarrassment. 

“It is getting late.” Ingrid said, standing up. “We should all go to bed so we do not fall asleep in Professor Byleth’s class tomorrow.”   
“Eh, Professor is pretty gracious.” Sylvain shrugged. “They’d probably be fine with it.”   
“But we still shouldn’t be late!” Annette exclaimed. “I agree with Ingrid, let’s go to bed.” They stood, preparing to go their separate ways to their dorms. Felix practically ran off to get to his dorm, or rather away from Sylvain. 

“If you would like, I can come with you to your dormitory.” Dimitri offered Ashe. “You still seem scared, and it is rather dark.” Though Ashe normally would’ve declined the offer, he kept seeing white shapes out of the corner of his eye and kept hearing unexplainable and unsettling noises. 

“Alright, Y-Your Highness.” He said, still not making eye contact. Dimitri seemed shocked that Ashe had agreed so quickly, but he quickly regained his typical composure. The two of them walked to Ashe’s room first, then Dimitri went to his own. 

Ashe slept with his lantern lit that night. 

“So, are you and His Highness dating?” Claude asked Ashe, who was sitting at a table with the other archers. Ashe choked on his food. 

“No!” He exclaimed. 

“Then why was he walking you to your room last night?” Ignatz wondered. 

“You know about that?!”   
“Everyone does, at this point.” Claude was smirking. “So spill. What was that even about?” Ashe sighed. 

“Mercedes told a ghost story and I was too freaked out to go back to my room alone. Dimitri offered to take me so I wouldn’t be scared.”

“So…” Claude ran a hand along his chin. “You’re not dating.”

“No. We’re not.”

“Just you wait, he’s probably going to skip that part and just propose.” 


End file.
